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Major Construction Complete at New Washington College of Law at Tenley

January 14, 2016

American University is proud to announce that major construction of the new Washington College of Law on the Tenley Campus is complete. The law school will open for the spring 2016 semester on Monday, Jan. 11, followed by a ribbon-cutting ceremony scheduled for 2 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 12. U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and DC Mayor Muriel Bowser will participate in the official opening ceremony. Additional events also are being planned for alumni and friends as part of the Celebration Weekend.

The opening follows two years of construction on the Tenley Campus, featuring new structures that define a prominent new identity for the law school, while also honoring the rich historic legacy of the site. The new law college – built on an 8 1/2-acre space one block from the AU-Tenleytown Metro station – accommodates a student population of 2,000 and a faculty and staff of 500 with 312,000 square feet of facilities and parking for 400 vehicles. The new law school campus features:

• 37,000 square feet of teaching space

• 500-seat conference center, Claudio Grossman Hall

• 5 courtrooms – the largest being a state-of-the-art, 60-seat courtroom for class, appellate, and mock courtroom activities

• 60-seat Atrium Café and 223-seat dining hall

• 847-seat, 2 1/2 floor Pence Law Library

• 5,400 square foot outdoor courtyard

All new construction embraced and incorporated the historic Capital Hall and its chapel, as well as Dunblane House. It also retained open and accessible green public spaces, and improved the existing front lawn and perimeter of the site to increase opportunities for public access and enjoyment.

More information about the ribbon-cutting will be provided in the February edition of AU In The Neighborhood.